Last night’s dinner was too good not to deserve a post all of its own.

When a representative from Carapelli Olive Oil contacted me about sending over a sample, I knew immediately what I was going to make.

Actually, before the pesto, the very first thing I did with the extra virgin olive oil was use it in a bowl of stove-top popcorn.  I usually pop my ‘corn in canola oil and I definitely noticed that this bowl had a different, delicious taste.  This olive oil has a smooth flavor that works well with fresh dishes, aka you can cook with it but it’s also nice enough to pour over things that you’ll be serving cold.

Please note – I received a bottle of Extra Virgin Carapelli Olive Oil free of charge to review on the blog.  I was not paid to write this post.  All opinions are my own.

My aunt Margie – who makes the best pesto I’ve ever tasted before I made this roasted garlic version – always serves her pesto over bow-tie pasta, so that’s how I serve mine too.

We drained our pasta over a big bunch of spinach so it got nice and wilted, tossed it all back in the pot with the pesto, then topped our bowls with extra cheese and toasted pine nuts.

Roasted Garlic Pesto, serves 4-6

• 1 Tbsp plus 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 large bulbs garlic (you want to end up with ~ 20 cloves)
• 4 oz fresh basil
• 1/2 cup toasted pine nuts
• 1/2 cup shredded parmesan cheese
• 1/4 tsp salt

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees Farenheit.
2. Peel back several layers of skin from the garlic cloves; you want to reduce the amount the burns in the oven but leave enough layers intact that the cloves are still held together.
3. Slice off the tops of the garlic bulbs, exposing most of the cloves in each bulb.  Place bulbs on a baking sheet, and drizzle a Tbsp of oil over the exposed garlic.
4. Roast garlic for 40 minutes.
5. Set roasted garlic aside.  When the garlic is cool enough to handle, gentle squeeze the base of each bulb and the cloves should slide right out.
6. Place basil and remaining 1/4 cup oil in the bowl of a food processor and process 30 – 60 seconds, until smooth.
7. Add roasted garlic, pine nuts, parmesan, and salt to the bowl and process until well-combined, scraping down the sides occasionally.